The Minister of Social Cohesion and Family participated in the Conference of European Ministers responsible for family affairs, with the subject “The importance of families in society”, Sophia Zaharaki. The Conference, held today in Vienna, was organized by the Austrian Federal Chancellery, as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the International Year of the Family.

The papers and discussions focused on the central role that families play in European societies, presenting and sharing good practices in relation to family policy in order to ensure family rights.

In particular in the context of Conferencethe relevant ministers exchanged data and practices around the following axes: the situation of families in the EU, the framework for the protection of family rights, family-friendly policies, etc..

Immediately after the Conference, Sofia Zaharaki stated that “the acute demographic crisis throughout Europe, brings back to the heart of all government options and plans, the support and empowerment of the family, as the basic cell of societies and the foundation of social cohesion. With my counterparts, we particularly discussed the part of child protection, with an emphasis on the existence of quality child care services, both physical and mental.”

He added that “also a very big chapter is the balancing of family and professional life, with a series of measures taken that aim to make it easier for young people to make the decision to start a family and to have a functional and quality everyday life after the arrival of one or more children. The government has drawn up and is implementing coherent family support policies and is committed to strengthening them. Since 2019, several billion euros of national and European resources have been and are being allocated annually to support households with children. In 2023 alone, over €800 million was allocated to child benefits. Addressing the housing needs of young families is another cornerstone of family-friendly policies and more than £2.3 billion has been allocated for this purpose through social housing programmes.

Ms. Zaharaki concluded by noting that “it is extremely encouraging that there is now awareness in all member states, that demographics pose common challenges for all of us and here too the answer must be common. As described in the Declaration we signed in Vienna”.

The declaration, signed at the end of the Conference, includes the following commitments:

1. We support families in fulfilling their multiple functions for the benefit of society as a whole.

2. We support socially disadvantaged families.

3. We prevent, combat and raise awareness of all forms of violence within families, particularly by developing and strengthening child protection systems based on the best interests of the child.

4. We strengthen existing family-centered policies and programs and undertake new initiatives that respond to the new needs of families.

5. We promote work-life balance and take appropriate measures to provide affordable, accessible and quality childcare.

6. We raise awareness of family-related issues among political, social and economic stakeholders at international, regional and national levels and encourage them to actively use the opportunities offered by family-centred measures to the interest of society

7. We exchange and work collectively as well as individually, internationally, regionally and nationally to promote family life and to address problems that affect the situation of families.